Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans, Essay Example

The purpose of this literary analysis is to conduct an exploration into Danielle Evan’s in before you suffocate your own fool self. She portrays many women claiming dominance over their own sexuality and bodies. A discussion into how this theme is depicted in the short stories will be embraced. This short story series opens with the Virgins, which emerged as an American best seller. This story encompasses a friendship established by two young girls of color who were employed. The love and affection shared between them was recognized as beyond sexuality. Where ever you go encompasses the same theme in a different portrayal.  It is further communicated that in producing this female dominance strength, the best friend in this story tried testing her sexual nature by electing to meet adult men thinking they could be more affectionate partners.  The three point  thesis pertain to  first the sudden realizations emerging from female characters quest for proving sexual dominance over their bodies, secondly,  spontaneous illogical decisions and thirdly failure of establishing the desire  for sexual dominance and body control . These occur just before the paragraphs end. Obviously, there is a consistent structure encompassing a framework of conscious fiction mingled with measures of distraction (Evans, 54).

However, as the struggle for sexual dominance continues the writer allows the best friend to become very disappointed in her pursuit. The narrator was the only one in this story to have perceived the depth of hopelessness in the adventure. Interestingly, both the narrator and best friend had no insight into predicting how dangerous a situation it was meeting adult men. As most of the other narrators in Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, stories the one in Virgins is very smart and empathetic being very capable of understanding their plight. Sadly they have absolutely no control over their circumstances. The interplay of female sexuality and dominance even though portrayed with literary prudence in this story, the women captured in these scenes seemed powerless in their dominance (Evans, 74).

This theme continues in the other stories. For example, in where ever you go supporting themes such as race and failure in love converged in highlighting the sensual nature of the sexual dominance and body ownership, which ironically was all out of control. It could be argued that the author deliberately applied irony in exposing the fulfilled desires of her female characters that lived in oblivion of gaining authority over their bodies and sexual preferences. Literary irony in portraying themes such as sexuality in these stories facilitates linking expectation to outcomes (Nicol, 108). In the Virgins this is vividly depicted when the search for love and sexual sensations among adult males ends in heartbreaking disappointment. The story, Someone Ought to Tell Her There’s Nowhere to Go Evans elaborates on this theme by allowing a man who was once in the military to lie about himself being a war hero. This was done in order for his exgirlfriend‘s daughter to emerge winner of a large contest. Here in this story Evans uses a man in proving the reality of women’s unfruitful attempts at female dominance and control over their bodies by creating a contrast. This rhetorical device facilitates identification of opposing situations in a story (Birch, 113). Even though it is a plot the protagonist’s desperation made it appear as a real achievement creating another contrast.

In the Harvest Evans engages sensitive dialogue exposing desires of smart underappreciated colored women. Women of color seem to be the supporting theme Evans combines in her stories to strengthen the sexual body dominance feature. For example, In Harvest, she allows white women , who attended college to offer their eggs for monetary rewards creating another contrast. However, black student donors were rejected.  The reaction of one black woman was so astounding that in desperation she remarked how she would sign her name as Dulce Maria Gutierrez Hernandez and observe their reactions,  Here Evans weaves race into her female sexual/body dominance theme.  Robert E. Lee Is Dead, makes a more distinct exposure of her theme as two young women in their teens shoplifted items from a shop (Evans, 192).

These teenage women are immersed in an impulsiveness allusion than accuracy in describing their dysfunction. Importantly, these are way above average high school seniors. They feel discriminated against by Caucasian classmates along with African American and Hispanic friends. The reaction is frustration with outbursts of crying, vandalism and symbolic acts. The expectation is showing dominance of self as it pertains to their sexuality as women body control pursuits, which are obviously lacking.  Frustrations are crudely expressed as uncivilized people sigh a strong showing of incoherence. In Wherever You Go, There You Are the narrator expressed that she always had the desire for a wedding in Vegas. Marriage in her perception was simply cover up for human loneliness. The grandeur of Vegas allows a woman to forget this loneliness momentarily. Again the protagonists falter in the desire of obtaining female dominance and body control. She shelters in a Vegas marriage desire to a man she was in love with. Evans articulates the sexual passionate dominance and body control of these women incorporating men and race when necessary (Evans, 200).

Works cited

Birch Dinah. (2011), Modernism, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford Oxford University Press .

Evans Danniel. Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Sel. Riverhead. 2008. Print

Nicol, B. The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction, Cambridge University Press,  2009 Print